HTIA_001_041 THE NIGHTMARE 1781 / THE DAYMARE 2025 _ HENRY FUSELI / LIPUTHA JAMANTELL #HärraTeedeniImedeAed #MartinTeeFanClub
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Henry Fuseli (1741 - 1825) The Nightmare, 1781, oil on canvas, 180 × 250 cm, Detroit Institute of Arts, USA . . Although of Swiss origin, Henry Fuseli is considered one of the great English artists of the late eighteenth century. Fuseli did a total of four variations on The Nightmare, probably his best-known theme.The Detroit version from 1781 created a sensation when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1782. What is the subject of this painting We may never be sure; Fuseli wanted his picture to intrigue us. The leering imp may embody the physical effects of a nightmare, or be an emblem of sexual desire. Is this picture an allegory, an illustration of a literary source, or something more personalThe figure that sits upon the woman's chest is often described as an imp or an incubus, a type of spirit said to lie atop people in their sleep. Fuseli's painting is suggestive but not explicit, leaving open the possibility that the woman is simply dreaming. Yet, her dream appears to take frightening, physical form in the shapes of the incubus and the horse. According to Fuseli's friend and biographer John Knowles, who saw the first drawing Fuseli made for the composition in 1781, the horse was not present in the drawing but added to the painting later.Moreover, although it is tempting to understand the painting's title as a punning reference to the horse, the word “nightmare” does not refer to horses.Rather, in the now obsolete definition of the term, a mare is an evil spirit that tortures humans while they sleep.As 'A Dictionary of the English Language' (1755) defined it, a mare or “mara, [is] a spirit that, in heathen mythology, was related to torment or to suffocate sleepers. A morbid oppression in the night resembling the pressure of weight upon the breast.” Thus, Fuseli's painting may in fact be understood as embodying the physical experience of chest pressure felt during a dream-state. #PierreAugusteRenoir #Renoir #art #arthistory #paris #france #french #frenchart #français #impressionists #artist #Impressionism #portrait #pittore #pittura #pintor #pintura #peintre #peinture #impressionnisme #IntheGarden #imresionismo #Maler #Malerei #masterpiece #painting #painterRenoir Kuva vähem
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